The Trump administration put California on notice Wednesday — warning them to stop “sanctuary” policies allowing criminal illegal immigrants to walk out of jails and back onto the streets.
A letter from ICE to the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta asked if the Golden State would be complying with immigration detainers — requests to local law enforcement to hold an illegal immigrant if they are about to be released from custody after an arrest or upon completion of a sentence.
“Please confirm whether the State of California plans to honor detainers on these aliens or whether each of these barbarians will someday walk the streets of California again,” the letter, obtained by The Post, said.
Newsom signed a bill banning law enfacement include ICE from wearing masks. REUTERS
A letter from ICE to the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta asked if the Golden State would be complying with immigration detainers. APCalifornia is a sanctuary state, meaning state and local agencies — including police, the DMV, and public schools — are generally prohibited from asking about a person’s immigration status or sharing that information with federal immigration authorities, including ICE, in most circumstances.
“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” Todd Lyons, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Post.
The agency said the sanctuary policies are forcing federal agents to “go out into the community to make the arrest” because they don’t tell the Trump administration that they are setting loose the illegal immigrants, a DHS spokesperson said.
“All we ask for in a detainer is that, when the criminal finishes his sentence, the states and locals hand him over to us for deportation,” the spokesperson said.
Rob Bonta, California’s Attorney general, has been a strong critic of ICE calling them “unconstitutional.” APA spokesperson for Newsom blasted the feds for wanting to stoke “panic and fear.”
“If the federal government truly cared about getting hardened criminals off our streets, they would pick up every person released from our state prisons that have immigration detainers placed on them,” the governor’s rep told The Post in a statement.
“Since they don’t bother to pick up one out of every eight, it shows they just want to cause panic and fear to ultimately ensure compliance to a dangerous immigration agenda that threatens Americans’ safety, affordability and freedom.”
A California government source stressed that state officials don’t impede the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws using federal resources, noting that they would still work with ICE to detain individuals convicted of or facing “credible” public-safety threats.
Golden State law also allows local law enforcement to coordinate with federal immigration agents to take custody of immigrants who have serious prior convictions, are charged with violent felonies, or have outstanding federal arrest warrants, the insider added.
The federal government alleges that at least 4,500 illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds have been released back onto American streets by California.
Tens of thousands of people who entered the country illegally — which it notes is a crime in itself — and later committed additional offenses, including murder, rape, possession of child pornography, armed robbery, and other serious crimes, are currently or have recently been in California custody, the letter stated.
Elvin Joel Centeno Verde, a Honduran national, convicted of obstruction of police and drug trafficking.
Angel Navarro Camarillo, a Mexico national, is a member of the La Familia street gang.
Raphael Arturovich Gevorgyan was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, assault with deadly weapon.
Sara Hassanzadeh, a criminal illegal alien from of Iran, arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery on an ex-spouse.
The federal government alleges there are more than 33,000 illegal immigrants with active ICE detainers in California and says it shared case examples with the attorney general to illustrate what it called “where your failures have failed the American people.”
Those examples include a Guatemalan national convicted of first-degree murder and robbery, an Armenian national convicted of voluntary manslaughter and other felonies, and a Mexican national arrested for a sex offender violation, ICE claimed. All three were later taken into ICE custody after detainers were not honored, according to ICE.
Protestors clash with police during a “National Shutdown” protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles on January 30, AFP via Getty Images“This is more dangerous for ICE, the criminal, and the public,” the DHS spokesperson said.
This is not the first letter ICE has sent to California.
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In September 2025, ICE sent a similar letter to California — as well as New York and Illinois — asking the states to comply with federal immigration law and honor detainers for criminal illegal aliens.
Sacramento did not respond to that letter.
LAPD arrive to disperse protesters near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. David Thompson/California PostThis letter is the most recent flashpoint in ongoing tensions between the state and the Trump‑era federal government, which also include California’s passage of the No Secret Police Act, a law signed by Newsom that bars most law enforcement officers, including federal agents such as ICE, from wearing masks during operations in the state.
The state has also seen increased anti‑ICE protests after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, an incident that sparked demonstrations nationwide and after the fatal off‑duty ICE shooting of Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles, all unfolding as Newsom promotes a new book and weighs a potential 2028 presidential run.






